Say more by saying less
Many non-native speakers say "uh" or "um" too much while they are speaking. Eliminating these non-word sounds is also one of the quickest ways to sound more sophisticated in presentations, meetings and even everyday life.
- What impression do these sounds give the listener when you speak?
- When you are the listener, what effect do these sounds have on you?
Give an example. You can say, "I'm going to give you two answers, and you can tell me what the difference is."
I'm um... a teacher um… at the uh... English Farm and it's uh... a good job because I uh... get to meet... er... interesting people.
I'm a teacher at the English farm. It's a good job because I get to meet interesting people.
What's the difference? Non-word sounds do two things:
- They make the speaker sound less confident/intelligent.
- The listener has a harder time understanding what's being said.
TIP
A good, short (2:16) video of Caroline Kennedy using lots of non-word sounds & phrases:
- "AP Exclusive: Kennedy talks Senate seat"
- Turn on the subtitles so the student can see how often she uses them.
Answer this tough question, and focus on not saying any non-word sounds. Your instructor will be strict about this.
Tell the student, "I'll count the non-word sounds. Please keep speaking fluently until you finish."
- What should be the goal of space exploration?
It's a good idea to show your student when they make a non-word sound. A hand gesture or sound (like saying "Ding!") works well.
There are a couple ways to deal with the issue of non-word sounds:
- The first and most obvious strategy is to say nothing. But that doesn't mean allowing long, awkward pauses. We will work on pausing effectively. Discuss this with your instructor.
- If you need a little longer to think, then use fillers like, "Let me see..." or, "How can I put it...", as well as any other filler phrases that show you are thinking.
1. Effective pausing
Answer the question from the Warm Up twice: first with bad pauses; and then with good pauses. Elicit the difference from the student.
- Well, I'd like to... invest in the... technology sector because it... seems like a... major growth sector.
- Well, I'd like to invest... in the technology sector... because it seems like... a major, growth sector.
Both of these are slow, and the language was exactly the same. But pausing after a key word is effective, while pausing before a key word is obviously terrible. So:
Short pauses should be put after the key word. Also, speak slowly (as was suggested in the last lesson).
NOTE: Don't pause after a joining word (e.g., for, and, but, because, etc.).
2. Fillers
Sometimes a short pause is not enough. It's perfectly natural to take time to think. In this case, you can use a filler phrase, as was also discussed in the last lesson. Some examples are:
- Let me see/think...
- How should I put it?
- Oh, good question.
- What's the word again? It's on the tip of my tongue! (Be sure to point out that this is a rhetorical question.)
Now let's practice some more questions. Focus on avoiding non-word sounds.